This discussion board deals withthe syphilis study that was done on men for 40 years in Alabama, feel free to throw in your thoughts on this issue. This is a chronicle of appalling cruelty that turned people into subjects for the sake of science. Briefly the men in the study were told they had Obad blood O- but the Otreatment they received was only aspirin and iron tonic. The Public Health Service worked with local doctors to ensure that no antibiotics or other treatments would be given that might alter the progression of the disease. The first mention of the infamous syphilis experiment usually raises the question of how could this have gone on for so long without being exposed?
There was no cover up; the experiment was regularly reported in medical journals and at medical conferences. It involved not only the Public Health Service but also the Tuskegee Institute, the Veterans Hospital in Tuskegee, and both white and black doctors in Macon county. Over the years, the study became a training ground for young physicians. Your thoughts this week on this horrific study and the book in general. Can this ever happen again and has it happened with our military personnel in the past?